Angel Pass
by Roxie Dare
Summary: A serial killer is lose in a National Park, it's up to the Angels to stop him before he strikes again. Or will the next victim be an Angel?
1. Prologue

A dark figure silently climbed the crest of the hill shining a dim light around before quickly gesturing to the couple behind him. The couple then scrambled to the top of the hill giggling and screeching in anticipation. Set up before them was a fire pit littered with beer cans and cigarette buts. The man shrugged off his backpack and withdrew an envelope and handed it to the dark figure. Without a word or any sign of acknowledgement the dark figure then started his decent down the cliffs edge as the couple busied themselves for the promise of a fun night.

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Diane hiked her way throughout the brush of the national park as the sun was just peaking over the high point to her right. She breathed in the fresh air as she brushed her short hair from her eyes and focused on the scene before her. She sighed as the morning light exposed the site of another squatter camp. This was familiar for her, despite the fact that she had only been a forest ranger for a couple of months now. The Park was extremely large and there were not enough rangers to go around. Pulling out a trash bag from her cargo pocket she started picking up the trash that was littered around the crude fire pit.

"Diane, come in Diane," Her small radio clipped to her belt crackled loudly as the morning silence was abruptly broken.

"Diane here, what's up home base?" She sighed.

"Did you find that disturbance that we heard last night?"

"Yes sir, I did, just another squatter camp, I'm cleaning it up now and I will be marking the spot on my map in a minute." It was protocol that whenever anything of interest was found in the park the site was marked for future reference.

"OK. Call back before you head out, we got reports of large wildlife out by campground 12."

"Probably just another prank, but OK. See you shortly" Diane sighed again as she reclipped the radio to her belt and continued with the task ahead of her. Sorting through the ashes for more trash something bright caught her eye, it was blood. Brushing off the oddity she finished with the trash and started scanning the bushes looking for anything that didn't belong. She found it alright, there was some yellow fabric caught on a branch of a thorn bush. Diane pushed the branch back and immediately jumped back and started screaming. The branch she had just pushed back was hiding the source of the mysterious blood, the brutally beaten body of a young woman.


	2. Chapter 1

"I don't care what he says Bos! We deserve a vacation!" Kris Munroe was frustrated, and it showed, her blond hair was flying everywhere in sync with Kris' swift pacing. Seated on the couch across the room scanning over a folder Sabrina Duncan didn't even glance up at Kris' outburst.

"I agree Bos; we can't go undercover as the homeless for a week and not expect some R&R." Sabrina stated as she finally looked up from her folder.

"Have faith in Charlie, you will have vacation, just have faith." Bosley looked around to the Angels and knew it would take some smooth talking to keep the girls calm. Especially after Charlie calls.

"Ah Bosley, true we may have a vacation, but it's not Aruba is it Bos?" The final Angel, Kelly Garrett, Finally spoke from her place at the bar.

"Aruba would be fantastic! Why can't we ever have a case in Aruba?" Kris exclaimed still livid, she calmed down somewhat as Kelly walked over and handed her a drink.

"Uh, Kris last time I checked, working a case isn't the same as having a vacation." Sabrina pitched in, also accepting a drink from Kelly.

"No it's not Bri, but here's how I look at it. If it's a case Charlie pays for everything." Kelly and Sabrina joined Kris in a round of laughter and toasting to Charlie's bank account.

"This is what I get for working with women." Grumbled Bosley, the only money saver in the group. Bosley was saved from the three women when the familiar ring of the phone. "Ah ha, here's Charlie now, he will settle this matter of a vacation." He picked up the phone with his traditional greeting. "Yes Charlie they're all here." Then he pushed the oh-so important button.

"Good morning Angels."

"Good morning Charlie." The three Angels chorused as they settled down for the meeting.

"Now as I understand if you three are petitioning for a vacation."

"That's right Charlie, after that last case we just want a change of scenery." Kelly reasoned sitting down in front of the desk.

"Well that's just what I have in mind Kelly, open skies, fresh air, and breathtaking views." Charlie responded with elegance.

"But not Aruba, right?" Kelly rebuttled.

"And not a vacation." Sabrina backed Kelly.

"Well not exactly."

"Charlie!" Sounded all of the Angels, and even Bosley looked a little disappointed.

"Aw come on, we've been working hard lately!" Kris moaned, sinking down into a chair next to Kelly.

"I won't argue with you there, that is why I accepted this case." Charlie explained trying to put out a fire.

"Well why don't you explain the case to us and we will consider it." Sabrina reasoned with the approval of the others.

"Very well, Bosley first slide please, ladies welcome to Great Smokey Mountain National Park, 814 square miles of the prettiest scenery in the country. Now for the last couple of months the park has been having a problem with squatter camps, as they call them. According to management it was a problem that he could handle. Until a couple of weeks ago a young woman was found dead at one of the camps. Autopsy reports call it an accidental death, but animals have made it hard to tell."

"Well Charlie that hardly seems like our kind of case." Sabrina interrupted.

"Your exactly right Sabrina, normally it's not our case, but in this case I think an exception is in order."

"But why Charlie?" Kris inquired.

"Because this is the third 'accidental' death since the squatter problem came up. Now I have created your cover stories. Sabrina I want you and Bosley to pose as magazine reporters from Backpackers magazine. Kelly you will be the camping at the park. Kris how would you look in forest green? You are going to be the new forest ranger. "The Angels laughed as Kris' face took on a look of obvious disgust.

"Charlie who's the client?" Sabrina asked finally ignoring Kris.

"An unnamed donator who heavily supports the park. He wishes to leave it at that and that no contact would be made. Now I think that Bosley can handle finishing your questions I have a matter that I must attend to."

"Mmmhmmm." Kris nodded with a knowing look to the other Angels.

"Good bye Angels and good luck." Charlie signed off with laughter in his tone.

"Well I suggest you all go home and pack Sabrina, Kris and I have an early flight in the morning." Bosley said turning off the projector.

"What about me Bosley?" Kelly asked turning to face him.

"Well, you will be flying into Tennessee's capital where you will drive from there."

"Drive? All the way to the Park? Thanks a bunch Bos." Kelly sarcastically said as the other Angels immediately attacked her with teasing remarks.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Kris jerked awake as she felt the plane touch down; she then realized that her stomach was still at ten thousand feet. Slowly making her way off the plane she almost walked past a sign with her name on it. Confused she abandoned her trip to the bathroom and approached the sign holder.

"Hello! I'm Kris Munroe." Kris stated sticking her hand out to the red headed woman wearing forest green. The woman's trusting eyes lit up when Kris introduced herself.

"Hi, my name is Diane Costella. I'm one of the rangers at the park."

"So your my personal welcome wagon then, right?" Joked Kris smiling brightly; mostly because her stomach finally caught up to her.

"Yeah, something like that. Why don't we get your bags and I will tell you about the park in the car."

"Sounds like a plan." Responded Kris picking up her carry on and following Diane to the baggage carousal. Soon enough Kris' backpacking pack fell down the slide and joined the expensive hard-case suitcases and duffel bags. "Oh! That's mine there!" Kris exclaimed pointing to the pack sticking out like a sore thumb.

"I thought I was the only one who travels with a backpack." Diane thought out loud and joined Kris in laughter. Kris slung the pack over her shoulder and again picked up her carry on and followed Diane out the door. Arguing to her left caught her attention, at the rental agency a man was yelling heavily at the attendant. Kris picked up pieces of the argument here and there and eventually determined that her had ordered a nicer car than was available. The woman he was with was desperately trying to calm him down. "That relationship is going to last." Diane voiced sarcastically, Kris had to pull herself away from the argument and followed Diane. She was lead to a beat up old van whose paint job was indeterminable due to dust. Kris climbed into the passenger seat and tried to stay awake on the long drive ahead of her.

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"Bosley! Calm down, everything will be fine. Calm down. BOSLEY!" Sabrina practically shouted. 'This is embarrassing' she thought to herself silently. Bosley had lost control trying to receive the same car he had ordered. The poor attendant meekly admitted that he didn't have a car, and Bosley lost it. The baby on the plane most likely didn't help any either. Sabrina would admit that she was tired as well, but she just wanted to get to the park. "We will take it. Thank you, have a nice day." She abruptly leaned forward and took the keys from the attendant and started to drag Bosley away.

"Sabrina, I almost had it." Bosley told her, annoyed.

"Yeah well, I'm tired and I can't put up with problems right now." That ended their conversation and they settled down for the ride to the park.

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Kris stifled back a yawn as Diane started talking about the park.

"Ok, so here's your radio and map, whenever you find anything of interest make sure you mark it and call it in. Every ranger has a bear gun, that's back at base, and you have your own cabin as well. At the lodge there is a mess hall so all of your meals are paid for. As soon as we get to base I will go over your territory and duties with you sound good?"

"Yeah sounds like a plan." Then the two women fell into a comfortable silence as Kris lost herself in the scenery outside.

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Sabrina and Bosley pulled up to the main lodge and left the rental car, still bickering about the car. Sabrina motioned to him to be quiet when a ranger approached them with curiosity.

"Hello I am Seth Andrews. Can I help you?"

"Well yes I believe you can." Replied Sabrina, handing him her business card. "My name is Sabrina Duncan and I am a parks reviewer for Backpackers magazine. This is my photographer John Bosley. We were hoping to have your co-operation in creating a panel featuring Great Smokey Mountain Park." The group sat in silence while the older park ranger analyzed the card.

"Well we never say no to free publicity." He said, finally looking up from the card. "Let's see if we can't find you a cabin to stay in."

"Alright, now we want to start as soon as possible so would we be able to interview you now?" Sabrina knew she was pushing her luck but the faster the better.

"Can it wait until tomorrow morning? I'm sure your tired and just want to sleep right now."

"Yes you are absolutely right sir." Bosley said, stepping forward purposefully cutting off Sabrina.

"Alright tomorrow then, now if you will follow me I will show you to a cabin."

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A short while later Sabrina and Bosley's cabin was already littered with photos and case files. Sabrina herself sat in the middle of a fairly large pile of folders. She jumped as somebody knocked on the door and barged in on her. She panicked for a minute before she realized that the tornado of khaki and green was Kris.

"Can you believe this uniform?" Kris vocalized twirling to model for Sabrina. "I don't have any curves, I'm shapeless!" Sabrina sighed and massaged the bridge of her nose and waited for Kris' fire to die a little. Bosley walked into the main room glancing confusingly at Kris. "Isn't it formless?"

"Kris, you have to remember that people come here to see mountains and trees, not other scenery." Bosley reasoned, taking a bullet for Sabrina.

"Ok, now that we have finished that business, lets talk about the case. Ok so far we have two suspects, Diane Costella and Seth Andrews." She placed a picture on each appropriate folder and glanced up at her colleagues.

"Well I was talking to Diane on the car ride and she has only been on at the park for a couple of months. So she fits the timeline." Kris reasoned absent mindedly flipping through the police report.

"Right, and according to Charlie she has no police record. Now on to Mr. Andrews, he has been working here the longest out of all of the employees, 20 years." Kris whistled and Sabrina replied with,

"Well, Bos, working a single job for that long could get frustrating."

"Tell me about it, any way Andrews was arrested for drug possession in his teens. Now he swears it was planted but he was still prosecuted. According to his file ever since he got out of jail he's been clean." Bosley finished with a glance to the two Angels. "Now we need a lot more information but I think we should wait for Kelly to get here before we start pressing for more."

"I agree" said Kris "She should be getting here early tomorrow morning. So I suggest we just get some sleep and play by ear."

"As much as I hate playing by ear I need some sleep, good night." Sabrina gathered the folders and retired to her room leaving Kris to continue complaining about her new uniform.


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks everyone for the reviews! You have no idea how much reviews help me keep going, so keep them coming!**

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Kelly yawned openly as she stepped out of her jeep and started walking towards the main lodge. She smiled as she saw her blonde friend in a rangers outfit.

"Hi there! My name is Kris, welcome to Great Smokey Mountain National Park."

"Hi, I'm Kelly Garrett." The two friends shook hands trying not to burst out in laughter.

"Do you have a reservation at a cabin or campground?" Kris asked.

"Campground, I've been driving all night so if you could tell me what number I'm at I would really appreciate it." Kris nodded and referred to the clipboard she was carrying.

"Well it looks like you are at Cades Cove campground, sit number 96." Kris reported handing Kelly a map and pointing to the site.

"What are these cabins next to the grounds?"

"Oh, those are ranger cabins and quest cabins" Kris responded, stealthily pointing out her own cabin to Kelly.

"All right, thanks a bunch!" Kelly turned and climbed into her jeep again to drive out to her campground.

Kris watched Kelly leave and then she herself turned around to continue with her previous business. Studying the large map of the park that took up an entire wall of the lodge she continued marking the places of interest on her own map. She was silently cursing the complexity of the map in front of her and decided there were way too many colors to be legal. A flash of movement caught her eye and she looked out of the window to reveal a fairly pleasing sight. Walking up to the lodge was a young man who just popped out of a magazine. Kris tried to close her jaw as the rugged Greek god strode through the door. He was at least 6'3" with black hair, blue eyes and a chiseled shin. He obviously worked out and had a dazzling white smile.

"Well hello there, you must be a new ranger." Kris practically melted into a puddle when his voice revealed to be as dreamy as him.

"Huh, oh yeah, I just started this morning." She stammered out.

"Well let me introduce myself, I am Caleb West. I'm a bit of a regular around here."

"Really, are you an outdoors enthusiast?"

"Well kind of, I enjoy painting the scenery of the park, it's unmatched."

"That's fantastic!" Kris sighed 'He's and artist too,' she thought 'oh he is so mine.' She was already devising an excuse that she could use to let her be the one to keep an eye on him.

"What's your name?" Kris immediately blushed realizing that she was so fascinated by him that she didn't introduce herself.

"Uh, Kris Munroe." She said dumbly her face growing a deeper crimson.

"Well Kris it was nice great to meet you, I am just checking in letting you guys know that I will be at Rich Mountain Lp. today. Have a nice day."

"You too." Kris said softly watching his walk out the door. She sighed and sank down into her chair remembering his smile.

"You look happy." Kris jerked up to see Sabrina and Bosley grinning widely at her.

"If you saw the image of the perfect man leaving here you would be too."

"I would be happy to see him coming not going." Sabrina replied, her grin widening.

"Seeing him leaving was a pretty sight too." Kris responded leaving Sabrina rolling her eyes. Kris waited for the other two to sit down before continuing. "Kelly got in this morning, I sent her to her campground."

"Yeah we saw her on our way in. She looked pretty tired." Noted Bosley, reaching for a glass of water.

"Anyway what I am trying to say is I wouldn't be a good candid to interview." Kris suddenly said loudly as another ranger walked into the room. He glanced at them and then continued on his way to the mess hall. Sabrina leaned forward and lowered her voice.

"OK so since you are already pretty close to Diane you stick with her. Bosley and I have an interview with Andrews later." Kris groaned wishing for the model man but knew this was no place to argue. "What?" Sabrina asked looking confusingly at Kris' reaction.

"I think it would be worth while to check out the resident artist, Caleb West" She hinted making eye contact with Sabrina. "He even told me where he is going, Rich Mountain Lp."

"Good idea." Interrupted Bosley. "I will pass on the information to Kelly." That being said Sabrina and Bosley rose and left with the intent to find Andrews. Kris groaned again and put her head on the table at Kelly's luck in assignments. She jumped as Diane stomped her boots in the doorway.

"Not falling asleep on the job are you?" Diane joked brushing her short red hair behind her ear. 'This place is a train station.' Kris thought.

"No, well kinda, I still have jet lag." Defended Kris, trying to regain a little dignity.

"That's understandable." Nodded Diane "Are you ready for a hike?" Startled Kris' eyebrows shot up.

"Huh? I thought I was working home base for a while?"

"Well yea, but we got reports of a bear down at one of the campgrounds so you and I get to put up signs." Kris nodded, grabbed her gear and followed Diane outside. She was slightly nervous at the possibility of being alone in the wilderness with a killer.

Sabrina and Bosley approached the small tenth that was violently shaking. The next instant Kelly tripped and stumbled out of it grumbling under her breath.

"Hi there," Sabrina called. "Having some problems with your tent?"

"No, no problems with the tent, I am just having problems maneuvering in it." Kelly walked over to and sat down at her picnic table, motioning for the other two to join her.

"I would have thought you would have been asleep Kelly." Noticed Bosley.

"I couldn't sleep it's so uncomfortable!" Kelly exclaimed, still fuming that Sabrina and Bos were upgraded to a cabin.

"Well maybe you will get some tonight. Anyway you have an assignment." At those words Kelly perked right up. "His name is Caleb West, he is at Rich Mountain Lp. right now and we think it might be good to get to know him."

"Sure, I will go ahead and freshen up before I track him down." Sabrina nodded in agreement as Bosley finished the conversation.

"Meanwhile we will be interviewing Mr. Andrews and seeing what we can come up with."

"Ok, have fun." Ordered Kelly.

"You too." Responded Bosley.

"But not too much." Smiled Sabrina knowingly leaving Kelly highly confused.

Kelly breathed deeply as she summated the peak that she had been aiming at for the past ten minutes. She groaned loudly as the view revealed the trail topping another hill.

"Don't worry, it's the last one." A voice to her right said, causing her to jump out of her skin. "Oh, I didn't mean to scare you."

"It's no problem; I just wasn't expecting to see anyone else out here, that's all." She studied the face behind the voice and was completely smitten with the beauty of it. "Do you come up here often?" Kelly dumbly asked trying not to drown in his blue eyes.

"Actually I am an artist so I come out here to draw and paint almost everyday. Where are my manners?" He flashed a wide smile and closed the distance between them with his hand outstretched in front of him. "My name is Caleb West."

"Kelly Garrett." His grip was firm and his hand was extremely warm and Kelly could feel his touch long after he dropped her hand. "It's a pleasure." She said, flashing a smile of her own.

"No the pleasure is all mine."

"So you're an artist." Kelly finally said trying desperately to break eye contact with Caleb.

"Yes I am, here let me show you some of my work." He led her over to a small bluff looking over a breathtaking valley. Caleb kneeled down to sort through a portfolio and Kelly had to tear her eyes away. She pretended to have been distracted with the view the entire time when he turned his attention back to her. As he proudly presented his work to her she felt she had to blink a few times to ensure that she wasn't looking out at the view again.

"These are fantastic," Kelly raved. "I love how you captured the light and the colors are really impressive." Caleb looked at Kelly with admiration.

"Sounds like you know your art."  
"Well not really, one of my good friends is an enthusiast." Kelly explained thinking of Sabrina. Kelly and Caleb continued looking at his work and having a good time. It didn't hurt that Kelly liked him more and more with every minute.

"You know what Bos? I think he is avoiding us." Sabrina spitefully concluded. She and Bosley had been looking for Andrews for a better part of the day.

"I have to agree with you." Nodded Bosley, he was tired, sweaty, and carrying around a big camera did not agree with him. Not to mention they had already been all over the park trying to chase down the invisible man.

"Alright well let's do one more sweep around the main road and then move on to the other employees." They started driving away from the lodge when two men caught their eye. Across the lawn at the construction site for a new picnic area Andrews was talking to someone.

"Come on, but be quite about it. He may rabbit if he sees us coming." Sabrina told Bosley, being overdramatic. Never the less they quickly crossed the lawn and approached Andrews. "Hello! Mr. Andrews you didn't forget our interview did you?" Sabrina asked charmingly as Andrews face fell.

"No, no I didn't forget, I have just been showing our progress of the construction to a donor here." Sabrina's eyes darted from Andrews to the other man quickly.

"Hi, I'm Greg Hartcourt." Sabrina and Bosley each shook his hand and introduced themselves. He was an older man of lean build with graying hair and dark eyes. "As Seth said I am a donor to the park."

"Really? What compels you to donate?" Bosley inquired.

"My wife, God rest her soul, loved it here. We used to hike out into the mountains every weekend and just forget about the world for a couple of days. Ever since she died of cancer a couple of months ago I have been donating heavily to the park." Hartcourt finished with tears brimming his eyes.

"I am very sorry for your loss." Sabrina said, sympathizing for the older man.

"Well the least I can do for the place she loved to most is encourage others to love it as much."

"That is a really lovely sentiment, Bos are you OK?" Sabrina asked seeing Bosley dabbing his eyes.

"Yeah, I just have something in my eye." Sabrina left it at that, she too was on the verge of tears.

"Anyway I have to go; there is a charity dinner I must attend." Greg excused himself and walked to the parking lot.

"So Mr. Andrews are you ready for your interview?" Sabrina asked turning to face the meddlesome ranger, who was no longer there.


	5. Chapter 4

**Again thanks for the reviews and making me feel so welcome! Let me know what you think of this chapter!**

Chapter 4

Kris sighed in exhaustion rubbing her sore legs furiously. She and Diane had been trekking about the park all day putting up signs in the most unlikely of places. The only good thing that came out of today was that she really got to know Diane really well.

"Don't worry it gets better as the months wear on." Diane said from behind her. Kris turned on the bench she was sitting on in front of the lodge to see Diane carrying two bottles of cold water.

"These are going to be the longest months of my life. I even thought I was in shape too." Kris told her accepting one of the bottles. Diane chuckled to herself and joined Kris on the bench.

"You are never really prepared for hiking unless you train and condition yourself before. But don't worry when I first started I was the same way." Diane comforted. Kris suddenly heard laughter coming from down the road and she turned her attention to the source. Coming down the path were Caleb and Kelly acting very friendly. Kris scoffed under her breath again wishing she was in Kelly's place but then again it was better not to get attached to people on the case. Diane looked to see what Kris was staring at and smiled to herself and turned her attention back to Kris. "Gorgeous isn't he?" She asked, eyes twinkling.

"A little too much." Kris said tearing her eyes away from the perfect man.

"I wouldn't even try," Diane said. "He rarely opens up to people and never to rangers."

"I wonder if it's the uniform." Kris said bitterly, plucking at her shirt. Diane laughed and agreed with her. "He seems to be opening up to her pretty well." Kris observed.

"She probably wasn't overly flirting with him; he seems to go for the women who are not concerned with the looks of a guy." Diane reasoned. Kris snorted in laughter at the thought of Kelly NOT flirting with him. "Anyway you're off the clock now so pretty much you're free to do whatever you want. See you bright and early in the morning." Diane told her leaving to go to dinner. Kris watched Kelly and Caleb say goodbye and climb into their different cars and depart. She then got lost in her own thoughts as the sun was setting behind a mountain in a marvelous array of purples and reds.

Later at Sabrina and Bosley's cabin the entire group was meeting in the main room to piece together that days clues.

"I don't like it, Andrews is avoiding us for one reason or another." Sabrina said, clearly annoyed with the man. "He either knows who we are or he has something to hide."

"Have you ever considered the fact that he may be camera shy?" Kris asked fiddling with her map.

"You didn't see him Kris, we had him cornered and he found a hole to crawl into." Bosley told her with half a sandwich stuffed in his mouth. "But how does Diane look as a suspect?"

"Well like I said earlier she fits the timeline, not to mention she really knows her away around the park. Since it's only been women who have been killed she could easily overpower them, she is in great shape." Kris reported.

"So right now she is our main suspect." Kelly concluded.

"Not so fast, how does our Mr. West look?" Kris asked trying to poke holes in the poor man.

"Well honestly he is an artist to the core, gentle, kind, and non-violent in every way. I honestly think he doesn't have a mean bone in his body." Kelly responded with elegance.

"I bet it doesn't hurt that his body is practically chiseled out of stone does it?" Sabrina asked making eye contact with Kelly, her eyes full of laughter.

"No, that doesn't hurt at all." Kelly replied sighing with a goofy look on her face.

"OK! That's it; the next hot guy that comes around is mine!" Kris exclaimed jokingly, but at the same time completely serious.

"Well how about just some guy?" Sabrina asked.

"What are you talking about?" Kris asked, taking the very words out of Kelly's mouth.

"Well today Bosley and I ran into Greg Hartcourt, a donor to the park. Bosley do you want to fill them in?"

"Sure, ladies let me introduce you to Mr. Hartcourt," Bosley started placing a picture on an empty folder. "Married to the late Ellen Hartcourt, in her memory he has been giving the park quite generous donations regularly. Her death took place shortly before the first of the questionable deaths happened. Now we don't know much else about him at the moment but as soon as Charlie's computer comes up with anything I will make sure to let you know." Bosley concluded.

"What a minute Bos, I just remembered something; Charlie said our client was a donor to the park who cared a great deal for it." Sabrina recounted leaning forward in her chair pointing to the other Angels.

"That's right." Kelly said, "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"I think we just found our client." Sabrina simply said straitening again. "It all fits, think about it. Big donor, loves the park, likes to stay unknown."

"You know Bri is right, Bos did Charlie tell you the clients name?" Kris asked reaching for the picture of Hartcourt.

"No he didn't, this is quiet plausible now that I think about it." Bosley replied with a concentrated look on his face.

"It's more than plausible Bos; I think its ironclad logic." Kelly reasoned with a very serious look on her face. "But we have to remember that the client didn't want to be contacted. How do we deal with this?"

"Well we respect his wishes to an extent. We won't go looking for him but if he happens to be in the middle of the investigation we can't just go around him." Sabrina told the others.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Kris thoughtfully agreed with Sabrina.

"OK so from the sounds of things we just keep going the way we are until we come up with something we can use, right?" Kelly double checked.

"Yes, stay with your suspects until something interesting comes up and let the rest of us know right away." Sabrina assured her.

"In that case we had better go our separate ways." Bosley said. "I need to go report to Charlie before I can go to bed. Good night Angels." Bosley rose from his chair and grabbed his coat before leaving the cabin.

"I have to agree with Bosley," Kris said. "I have to get up early in the morning so I won't be late for my shift."

"Well in that case I think its lights out for everyone, Good night." Kelly said leaving with Kris. Sabrina sat in her chair for another minute thinking deeply before heading to bed herself.

Kris' eyes snapped open when she heard her cabin uncharacteristically creaking in sync with footsteps. She slowly pushed back her blankets and reached into her nightstand drawer for her pistol. She firmly gripped her pistol in both of her hands and kept her arms straight as she silently crouched along the wall. Reaching her open door she took several deep breaths before springing into the main room.

"Freeze!" She shouted to the dark figure that was bent over her couch. Immediately the figure raised both hands.

"Whoa!" The mysterious intruder called. Kris recognized the voice and dropped her arms to point the gun to the floor.

"What in the world are you doing here?" The dark figure lowered its hands and reached for the lamp by the couch. The sudden bright light revealed none other than Kelly.

"I'm sorry; I just couldn't sleep in the tent. I was desperate." Kris set the gun on the end table before massaging her forehead with one hand.

"You scared me some much! I could have shot you!" Kris scolded still shaken. If there was anything that she hated more it was pointing such a deadly weapon at her friends.

"I know, trust me I know. I didn't want to scare you but I needed a place to sleep and I was trying not to wake you up." Kelly told her walking over to her friend.

"OK, well it's over now." Kris helped Kelly make the couch into a suitable bed.

"Thank you so much Kris, see you in the morning."

"Good night" Kris grumbled and made her way back to her own bed to drop into a dreamless sleep.


	6. Chapter 5

**Again everyone I am sorry it took so long, my profile explains everything. I was happy to see that my computer still had an unpublished chapter on it so here you go! **

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Kelly stirred as Kris was making plenty of noise in the process of getting ready for the day. She groaned to herself wishing for another twelve hours, but grateful for the sleep she did get.

"Good, you're up." Kris said, coming out of the bedroom with her gear. "Make sure no one sees you, we can't afford to have anyone coming up with any theories." Kelly knows exactly what Kris meant, more than once a case had almost been blown due to a suspect getting ideas.

"Did you make coffee?" Kelly mumbled getting up from the sofa and stretching.

"Yes I did my specialty pick-me-up pot." Kris responded cheerily taking Kelly's place on the sofa.

"Good you can cut me a slice." Kelly said and slowly started shuffling to the bathroom. For a split second the room was filled with silence when 'THUMP!' a pillow from the sofa landed itself squarely on the back of Kelly's head. Making her bed head even more tangled. Kris smiled to herself in satisfaction of the resounding 'thump' Kelly herself continued on to the bathroom thinking 'that was worth it'.

Kris left the cabin a few minutes later tossing an apple in the air and making her way to the lodge. The lodge came into view but before she could get any closer Diane interrupted her.

"Hey come on, we have a squatter camp." She informed Kris, without any greeting.

"Hello to you too." Kris said under her breath as Diane grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the lodge. "What is a squatter camp?" Kris obliviously asked.

"Well they are not really squatter, but they are areas in the park where people party and camp illegally. Traditionally they leave quite a mess." Diane told Kris, not slowing her stride. Kris yawned and bit into her apple following Diane to the beat up van. She tried not to choke on her apple when the van found every pothole in the dirt road leading closest to the camp.

About an hour later Kris and Diane were slowly making their way up what appeared to be a deer path. Soon enough they emerged from the woods and stumbled into a small clearing. Kris clicked her tongue disapprovingly at the still smoldering fire and trash littered around the area.

"Unfortunately this is a sight you have to get used to." Diane sighed and pulled out her radio to inform base. Kris mechanically marked the place on her map and pulled out a black trash bag. She warily kept an eye on Diane and started to clean up. Diane soon joined her as the two fell into silence.

Kelly shuffled into Bosley and Sabrina's cabin shortly after Kris left and helped herself to some coffee.

"Geez Kel, you look terrible." Sabrina said, coming out to investigate the intruder. Kelly's response was an incoherent mumble so Sabrina decided to leave it at that. "Hey, Bosley went into town and I'm about to go call Charlie. Anything you want me to bring up?" Sabrina asked pouring her own cup of coffee. She changed her mind about drinking it however when Kelly's face pinched up in disgust.

"Yeah you can tell Charlie about the lack of decent coffee." Kelly said draining her cup into the sink, Sabrina quickly followed in suit.

"Bosley made it." Sabrina said and Kelly snorted in laughter.

"I should have known, why did you let him?"

"Well he said he wouldn't mess up and I believed him. This machine is supposed to be idiot-proof." Sabrina said as she started to make a fresh pot. Kelly folded her arms on top of the counter and nuzzled into the crook of her elbow. Sabrina silently chuckled and started heading to the door.

"I am going to go call Charlie now. See you later."

"Wait!" Kelly called, sharply sitting up in the stool. "You need to mention that Kris is still leaning towards the serial killer theory."

"Diane?" Sabrina asked, Kelly nodded her head and again settled down onto the counter. Sabrina sighed and left to find a pay phone.

* * *

Sabrina yawned and hiding her face behind her hand approached the phone booth. Dialing a number that Charlie had given them, at exactly 8 o'clock, she waited for three rings before he picked up.

"Hello?"

"Well hello Charlie, Sabrina here. I was just checking in like Bosley asked me." Sabrina smiled evilly as she predicted what would happen next.

"Angel you did remember there is a time difference didn't you?" Sabrina grin grew wider as her pay back was just beginning.

"No Charlie it must have slipped my mind, I'm sorry."

"No worries, at least you are punctual. Now on to business, I have been running a missing persons check on that area around the park. Now it seems that after each girl disappeared there was also a man reported missing. Now I am sending you a cadaver dog because I think there is still a piece to this puzzle missing."

"Well there goes Kris' women serial killer theory." Sabrina said, taking notes on a pad.

"Maybe not, I would prefer to find all of the clues before we jump to conclusions." Charlie said.

"OK, well I am going to see if I can track down Andrews somewhere around here."

"Now Bosley should be meeting up with you after lunch, but in the meantime I want you to stay in a heavily populated area. Be careful, Angel."

"I will Charlie, Bye." Sabrina said hanging up the phone worrying more about her other friends than herself.

Kris was on edge about being in the wood alone with Diane, unfortunately it was irreversible. She purposefully positioned herself so she would not have to turn her back to the redhead. She also took the precaution of unclipping the safety strap to the hefty bear gun, a precaution she hoped was unnecessary.

"Do you smell that" Kris jumped slightly as Diane broke the silence.

"What?" Kris questioned rising up.

"The wind just shifted and now there is this foul odor." Diane informed examining the landscape for the source of the smell. Kris, with her attention captured, tried to determine the odor. Without a doubt she identified the smell, it was the putrid smell of decomposition. If the hairs on her neck could straighten any more, they just did.

"It smells like something is rotting." Diane concluded leaving the clearing to investigate.

"Diane wait!" Kris said helplessly jogging after the determined ranger.

"It will go faster if we split up," Diane reasoned "If a bear has made a kill out here recently we need to make note of it." With that Diane continued on her way and motioned to Kris to start on a different path. Kris sighed in defeat and started to sweep away the spider webs that were strung across the path. Without even walking ten feet the smell worsened and soon Kris could barely breathe without gagging. She brushed aside one last branch to reveal a shocking sight. In front of her was the worst case of decomposition she had ever seen. Kris gasped and covered her mouth as she stumbled backwards. Quickly she dashed back up the clearing screaming for help the entire way. As she came up upon the clearing she tripped and in order to save herself from injury she rolled onto her back. Startled by the noise of something coming out of the woods she pushed her legs to slowly get further away from the noise.

"What happened?" Diane shouted as she burst out of the foliage. Kris placed a hand over her racing heart and closed her eyes as she tried to take the breath needed for an explanation.


	7. Chapter 6

Sabrina tore out of the door to her cabin when she heard the sirens squeal past outside. She had been eating lunch at the tiny table when the ambulance caught her attention. She immediately grew concerned for her two friends, both with plans with a suspect. Using her long legs to gain distance rather than short speedy steps she gained speed going down a hill. She skidded to a stop when she caught up to the now stopped ambulance. She breathed even easier when she saw Kelly with Caleb trying to discern what was happening.

"Excuse me Miss. " Kelly politely said, catching Sabrina's attention. "Do you have any idea what is going on." Sabrina knew Kelly well enough to see behind the clever front of modest concern, Kelly was genuinely scared, just like her.

"No, I just got here, but whatever it is I hope it will make a good story." Sabrina said with nervous laughter, Kelly may be accounted for, but Kris wasn't. The two went quiet as a police squad car came to a stop next to the other emergency vehicle. Movement toward Kelly caught Sabrina's eye as she saw Caleb sneak an arm around Kelly. Sabrina was about to intervene when she saw Kris make her way down the path off in the woods. Sabrina audibly sighed in relief when she saw walking out unassisted. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kelly relax considerably. Sabrina observed as a paramedic led Kris to the back of the ambulance. 'Time for action' Sabrina decided as she took several determined steps forward.

Excuse me Miss. Could you tell me what happened here?" Sabrina questioned, meeting Kris' eyes.

"I'm sorry," A paramedic said placing himself between Sabrina and Kris. "She is in shock and not ready to be questioned." The paramedic then escorted Sabrina backwards to let a deputy approach Kris.

"We have a right to know what is going on!" Sabrina reasoned, struggling against the paramedic. She suddenly stopped with a jerk as she saw Diane coming down the trail, escorting a body bag. "What's that?" Sabrina asked, her voice cracking as she raised her arm to point to it.

"Is there a problem here ma'am?" A deputy then appeared to help the paramedic.

"Why yes there is." Sabrina said, imitating his accent. "No one will tell us what happened, what that is, … wait … are we in danger?" Sabrina asked, she asked on purpose. Knowing other campers would be paranoid so in order to prevent panic the park would have to make an announcement.

"Is there something dangerous in the park?" Kelly said, backing up Sabrina. Sabrina inwardly smiled to hear the buzz of harsh whispers in to growing crowd. Just then Seth Andrews trekked down the path and assessed the worried crowd. Sabrina fished in her jeans pocket to retrieve the small tape recorder that constantly proved to be useful.

"Mr. Andrews!" Sabrina called, pushing forward yet again. Andrews put his hands up to silence the crowd, who immediately ceased with the frenzied whispers.

"As patrons of the park it is only fair to keep you up to date on what is going on." Andrews started, lowering his hands. "We have found a young woman who has been missing for several weeks now, unfortunately she has passed away due to currently unknown circumstances." The crowd then started buzzing wildly once again, Andrews then struggled to regain control of the situation. "Although I am fully confident to label it as a natural death, or a tragic accident. That is the only information I have at the moment. I thank you before-hand for you patience and I strongly encourage this to not hinder your visit. Thank you again." Andrews proceeded to follow a deputy to a car and drove to escort the ambulance. Sabrina tracked down Kris to find her talking with Diane. Sabrina pretended to find something interesting to look at while she listened in.

"What do we do now?" Kris asked, her face deathly pale.

"What do you mean?" Diane rebuttled, starting to hike up to the van.

"We can't just ignore this! We found a body!" Kris said, jogging to catch up.

"Yes we can." Diane said, whirling around. "It was just an accident Kris, it happens, … I have something to do in town." Diane ignored Kris' protests and proceeded to drive off. Sabrina slowly approached her friend and softly whispered

"Are you OK?"

"How can I be expected to be OK? I found her, it's the worst thing I have ever seen." Kris said still facing the departing van. "I have work to do." Kris sharply said, before Sabrina could say anything else. Then she started hiking toward the lodge. Sabrina took a deep breath and turned to find Kelly. She slowly started walking to her as Kelly and Caleb were parting ways. Kelly mimicked Kris by watching the car disappear. Sabrina then stood next to Kelly but avoided talking until the crowd was almost evaporated.

"Well?" Kelly asked, turning to face Sabrina. Sabrina motioned Kelly to start walking and the started piecing together clues. Sabrina reported what Kris had said and Kelly told her about Caleb. Apparently he was struck hard by the tragedy. His exact words were 'it is a rude awakening that we are frail.' They reached Sabrina's cabin and stopped outside.

"I need to call Bosley and ask him to talk to the sheriff." Sabrina said turning to the cabin. She paused and turned back around. "I think one of us should talk to Kris." Kelly nodded briskly in agreement.

"I was already planning on it; you go ahead and call Bosely. I will take care of Kris." Sabrina knew from experience that Kelly was true to her word; both of them felt the same need to comfort the younger angel. Sabrina watched as Kelly started the trek to the lodge. Grabbing some change she herself began the walk. She let her eyes wander to the mountains. Part of her began to fear what secrets this vast wilderness hid.


	8. Chapter 7

Kris pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed deeply, staring at the new red flag on the map she mulled over her thoughts. A thousand and one questions plagued her minds, suspects presented themselves to her, and motive darted about. Although the most terrible thing for her was she was reliving the crime, she imagined hundreds of brutal possibilities of how it happened. This shook her to her core. Slight shaking she sat down on a nearby bench and put her head in her hands. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she did not notice the soft footsteps entering the room. Kris jumped slightly when someone sat down beside her and put her hand on her shoulder. She jerked up to meet Kelly's sympathetic eyes.

"What's on your mind?" Kelly asked her, rubbing her back to calm the shakes.

"Anything that could have happened to that poor girl and I mean anything." Kelly nodded silently and slowly rose to her feet.

"We can't talk here. Can I break into your cabin later tonight?" Despite herself Kris allowed a tiny smile and nodded as Kelly returned the weary smile. Kris watched Kelly leave the lodge and slowly rose to her feet. She then strode toward the main office, very determined. Quietly looking around she skillfully picked the lock and slipped inside. Slowly opening files and scanning the records, she was careful not to miss anything. She paused for a moment when she saw a file labeled 'accidents' She withdrew the folder and looked at it, almost holding her breath. She was about to open it when she heard footsteps outside the office door. She shoved the folder back into the file and dashed toward the window. She almost screamed in frustration when she saw the security bars. Running out of ideas Kris jerked her head around, looking for anything that could help.

* * *

Sabrina had just gotten off the phone with Bosley, to tell him the news. Walking around aimlessly her found herself outside a door. Curiosity drove her to reach for her lock pick kit. Surprisingly the door was unlocked so she slipped inside. Pausing at the other side of the door she debated if it is was a good idea. Suddenly a whirlwind of khaki and green fell down in front of her.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!!!" Sabrina creamed jumping out of her skin and falling backward. The figure clamped a hand on her mouth and motioned desperately. The figure was none other than Kris. Sabrina put her hand over her chest to try and calm her racing heart.

"What were you trying to do?! Give me a heart attack!" Kris then stated to look sheepish as she led her friend to a chair.

"I'm sorry, but there was really no easy way to tell you I was there."

"Speaking of, where were you?" Kris then grinned slyly and pointed straight up. "The rafters!" Sabrina exclaimed.

"Well you gave me a heart attack; I didn't have anywhere else to hide." Sabrina laughed a little at the image of Kris panicked and climbing onto the ceiling.

"Did you at least find anything?" Sabrina questioned, rising to follow Kris to the file cabinet.

"I think so." Kris then found the right file and Sabrina looked over her shoulder to read it.

"Wait this can't be right. " Sabrina whispered, more to herself than to Kris. She reached out to take the file.

"What is it?" Kris inquired.

"Well this record was for a few months ago, before these disappearances started, this is about Ellen. Greg Hartcourt's wife… he didn't tell us she died in the park…" Sabrina then started whispering very quietly. Both women jumped when the phone rang loudly, in an unspoken agreement the two decided it was time to leave.

* * *

Bosley leisurely strolled through Main Street, wearing casual wear and licking an ice cream cone he looked just like an ordinary tourist. Today, he was, for at least part of the day. He had already picked up the files from Charlie and checked in with the coroner for some reports. So the rest of the day was relaxation. Looking across the street a sudden realization hit him. The woman walking down the sidewalk headed for an expensive restaurant was Diane! Bosley recalled how Sabrina had told him that Diane rebated out of the park shortly after the authorities claimed the body. Now she was dressed with a wardrobe that not your ordinary park ranger would be able to afford. Bosely threw away the remains on his ice cream and rushed across the street.

* * *

Kelly sat silently on the couch, waiting for Kris to walk through the door. While she waited she let her mind wander to the first time Kris had been bothered by a case. They had just taken down an illegal adoption agency. Kelly had been distracted because she had just delivered a baby whose mother no longer wanted to give it up. After Kelly had calmed the new mother she discovered that Kris had just shot somebody for the first time. Kelly remembered walking past the police who stood guard over the doors. She took a deep breath of the crisp night air and strode over to a bench overlooking the lake. Kris sat silently on the bench, her eyes glossy with emotion. Kelly simply sat down and silently studied the ripples of the lake.

"How do you do it?" Kris had asked her, her voice cracking to break the soft whisper.

"It's not easy; you have to understand their motives. If their motives are meant to hurt then you know it was right." Kelly softly responded, placing a hand on her friends shoulder. Kris then broke down and threw her arms around her friend. Kelly wrapped her arms around her and rocked Kris as she sobbed into Kelly's shoulder.

Kelly jumped slightly as the door of the cabin slammed open. Kris seeing she had startled Kelly swiftly apologized. Kris then walked into the tiny kitchenette and gazed at the refrigerator.

"It's easier to open the door." Kelly lightly teased as she followed Kris. Kris sighed deeply and turned to face her friend.

"What do you want me to say?" Kris snapped. "Do you want me to joke and tease? Should I use sarcasm with every statement while a killer runs rampid!" Kris out of breath slumped down onto the floor with her back to the refrigerator. Up until then Kelly had just stood silently taking the beating, now she slowly joined her friend on the floor. "I'm sorry Kel, I don't know what I was saying, you didn't ask for any of that."

"That is where you are wrong." Kelly argued looking her friend in the eye. "I am your friend, it doesn't matter if you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to blame. I am there for you." Kris with tears filling her eyes nodded and looked down to concentrate on the pattern in the floor. "Now why don't you tell me what's bothering you?" Kris slowly nodded her head but still not making eye contact.

"It just shakes me finding her … like that." Kris said searching for the right words to say. "And the fact that the maniac is still out there…" Kelly hearing what she needed to wrapped her friend in a hug beckoning her to say no more.


	9. Chapter 8

_**Sorry that it has taken so long to update guys, I am trying to break through the walls of writers block. Review and let me know what you think.**_

It was late in the night by the time Bosely finally returned to the park. After he had seen Diane he decided it was a good idea to run a battery of checks on the girl … it was very interesting. By the time he was ready to go the airport had called to say Charlie's surprise for the angels had landed. That in itself had put Bosley back another hour. 'Time is money' Bosley huffed to himself as he pulled into the park. If he knew the angels, and he did, the more time they had, the more money they would spend. He pulled up in front of the cabin and was pleased to see the light still on. He cut the engine and opened the door to the cabin, balancing an armful of files and records.

"Well it's about time!" Sabrina smiled walking out of the bedroom to greet him. "I was beginning to think you were going to sleep in town to avoid the couch." Sabrina joked and fell into deeper laughter to see him cringe.

"If you're done rubbing it into my face would you mind running to get Kris and Kelly. It's time for an impromptu meeting." Sabrina mock saluted before pulling on some shoes and disappearing into the black night.

A short while later the three angels were all in attendance outside the cabin. They pushed through the door to find Bosley asleep sitting up on the couch. Kelly, feeling sympathy on any sleep deprived person, was about to gently wake him up when Kris put a restraining hand on her shoulder. Kelly turned to face her friend and Kris put her finger on her lips as a vow of silence. Kelly turned her head to Sabrina, who just shrugged her shoulders. Kelly finally gave in and just sat back to watch. Kris grabbed something off the wall, got into position, and signaled to Bri.

* * *

The ice cram cone was huge, the soft swirls of vanilla deliciousness towered high above him. Then came the chocolate sauce, lots of it, things couldn't get better. Then came the nuts, specifically pecans, chopped pecans, he was in heaven.

"BOSLEY, LOOK OUT!" Bosley jerked awake to hear Sabrina scream. He tried to focus his vision and immediately wished he didn't. He found himself face-to-face with a bear!

"GGGAAHHHH!!!" He screamed and lurched backwards, he used enough momentum to send the couch crashing on its back. He was disoriented for several seconds trying to breathe before he leaped to his feet. He was thinking of his escape possibilities when he heard an odd noise. His wide eyes were locked on the bear when it suddenly shed its skin. Then everything clicked, Kris had found a bear skin, Sabrina woke him up, and Kelly was acting innocent. And all three of them were laughing.

"NOT FUNNY!" Bosley defended pointing a finger at the group. Sabrina walked around the back of the couch and placed a hand on his shaking shoulder.

"Did that make you feel better?" Kelly asked Kris, holding her up to prevent her from collapsing in laughter.

"I … feel … much … better." Kris said trying to regain some composure.

"For once Bosley was NOT the big teddy bear." Sabrina joked, setting the couch straight. The three angels (although not right now in Bosley's opinion) then settled down for the emergency meeting.

"Actually Kris, I forgot something out in the car, would you get if for me please?" Bosley asked, with an obvious forced smile.

"Sure thing Bos." Kris said, ready to start the long road to redemption. The other two angels leaned across the void of the missing Kris to discuss something in soft whispers when they heard a loud yelp. Bosley grinned broadly as the remaining two angels raced past him on either side. The trio then formed themselves staring at Kris pinned to the ground, by a big black dog. The dog looked happily down at Kris, who looked terrified beyond belief. Sabrina ran to help pull the big dog off her friend as Kelly turned swiftly to face Bosely.

"What was that Bos?" She questioned intently.

"That my dear Kelly," Bosley started. "Was revenge, sweet, cold revenge. On only one of you at least." He said coyly, almost challenging her. Kelly immediately raised her hands to declare innocence. Suddenly the dog bounded up and put his paws on Bosley's chest, apparently happy to see a familiar face.

"We should get inside." Sabrina said, wary of wandering eyes, especially after the non-stop commotion. As soon as the entire gang was settled in the cabin, and Kris was settled down, it was straight to business.

"Well first of all, you have just met Cosmo." Bosley said referencing the big black at his feet. "He is a cadaver dog, as soon as we put his vest on he goes straight to work. Next, after you called me in town I went to the coroner's office. The victim is defiantly a young woman but she is not on the missing persons list like we previously thought. She is a Jane Doe who, judging by the spider webs on the trail, was exposed to the elements anywhere from a week to three weeks. Finally I saw Diane going into an expensive restaurant wearing something a little different than her khaki. So I checked her financials. Every weekend or so, it is quite spontaneous, there have been cash deposits into her bank accounts of a couple hundred dollars. The largest amount has been about a thousand." Kris then interrupted with a confused look crossing her face.

"That doesn't make any sense. For one the park pays regularly but not nearly as much. Secondly, all paychecks are, well, checks. There is no cash option."

"I found that out as well, these payments are on top of her paycheck." Bosley finished. Placing the finances on top of Diane's growing file.

"I don't think I like Kris spending time with her alone, she's our main suspect." Sabrina said and Kelly agreed with her.

"I don't either," said Bosley. "But unfortunately we all already have our assignment. Wait Kris, what is the ranger's policy on pets?"

* * *

The next morning Kris was walking towards the lodge, lease in hand. She just left a surprisingly cheerful Kelly at the cabin; Kris suspected it had something to do with a certain Greek deity. Despite having Cosmo with her, Kelly was still a little worried. Before Kris had left Kelly had handed her Kris' small handgun. Because the Park provided the rangers with bear guns Kris had not bothered to carry hers. But the look in Kelly's eyes prompted her to accept it without protest. Kris arrived at the lodge to see a man who looked strikingly familiar.

"Oh you must be the new ranger." The man said, rising from a bench to offer his hand. "Greg Hartcourt." Suddenly it clicked the client.

"Kris Munroe." She said responding to his handshake. Cosmo whined from below her and she chuckled slightly. "And this is Cosmo; he just flew in last night." Greg then kneeled down to greet Cosmo.

"So you're the girl who found the body then?" Greg said not looking up from Cosmo. Kris stiffened up at the memory of the day before.

"Yeah, so?" She said, all of the warmth leaving her voice.

"I was just wondering what led you to that spot."

"We got a call about a trashed area, and then I followed my nose." She said, rather coldly. That is when he looked up to make eye contact.

"I am terribly sorry Ms. Munroe; I did not mean to dredge up hurtful memories." He said, standing up. Kris was saved from saying anything more when Diane opened the door to the lodge.

"Hello Mr. Hartcourt. Kris you ready?" Right then Kris decided that Diane really didn't like her, it was slightly unsettling. On her way out Diane noticed Cosmo for the first time. "What is that?" She said, pointing to the dog with a look of disgust.

"This is my dog, Cosmo, I checked the rules, and it is ok to have a dog."

"Well keep IT away from me." She said, pushing her way out the door. Kris inwardly smiled suddenly feeling a little better about her assignment.


	10. Chapter 9

** You guys have no idea how sorry I am it's been so long since I have updated, life pretty much exploded. Between the old computer crashing and getting the new computer up and running everything was put on a standstill. But I'm almost there! **

Kelly grabbed the hand above her and yelped a little bit when she flew over the ledge. She started laughing and spun around to meet Caleb's cheery blue eyes.

"Look behind you." He said softly, taking one of her hands and spinning her around. She gasped to see the view, there was a waterfall that erupted out of a flawless mountain and emptied into a lake. The sky was a clear blue with the occasional fluffy white cloud.

"It's so beautiful, how did you know about this?" She asked, completely awestruck.

"I know this park better than anyone." He said, leading her to sit down beside the bluff. He pulled an apple out of his pack and handed it to her before searching for a second one.

"Is this what you do? I mean paint, do you just come up here and paint everyday?" She asked rather than bite into her apple. He nodded and swallowed a chunk of his apple.

"Once every couple of weeks I make an appearance at the gallery where my paintings are sold." Kelly nodded and took her first bite of apple.

"What are you doing tonight? At around sunset?" Kelly, taken off guard looked at him for a second before responding.

"Nothing, why?"

"There are just enough clouds to make a fantastic sunset, and I was thinking of heading out to Angel Pass." All Kelly could do was nod and grin at the irony.

"I don't like it Kel." Sabrina said later at lunch. "He said he really know the park, and let's face it, we don't" Kelly sighed and stared intently at her. Sabrina recognizing that look just sighed. Kelly didn't even have to say a word to win her over. "Well maybe we could have Kris and Cosmo follow you. Just to be on the safe side." Sabrina automatically felt like a pushover when Kelly burst into a grin following her friend's permission.

Kris and Cosmo were seated at the top of a ridge directly across from where Kelly and Caleb were relaxing. The sun was about to go down and Kris carefully balanced the binoculars on her knee as she stifled a yawn. She knew this stakeout was to keep Kelly safe; but it still did not feel right to spy on her date. Kris had already been sitting there for an hour, watching Kelly watch Caleb paint. Kris stifled another yawn and blocked the golden yellow sum from her eyes. She jumped slightly when she heard a low growl come from the big black at her feet. Kris immediately felt the hairs on the back of her neck stiffen as Cosmo rose to his feet and advanced to barking. Kris automatically stood up and put her hand to her hip, unclipping the bear gun as a precaution.

"Do you hear that?" Kelly asked, rising from her seat beside Caleb. He cocked his ear towards the noise to discern it.

"Most likely just a campers dog getting a little over excited by a squirrel."

"Maybe we should go check it out." Kelly said, managing to locate the noise to where Kris was supposed to be."

"Like I said, it's most likely nothing."

"Have you ever seen _Lassie_?" Kelly asked, staring him down almost challenging him. Caleb sighed in defeat and quickly located two flashlights.

Kelly quickly rushed into the clearing where now only a low growl emitted. She was Kris tensed up and staring open-eyed at them.

"What's wrong?" Kelly said, refusing the urge to run to her friend.

"I am afraid to find another …" Kris said, turning pale. Caleb immediately stepped forward and took Kris by the shoulders and stared intensely into her eyes.

"Is that what you think this is about?" Kris just nodded and refused to meet his eyes, instead she just kept glancing at Kelly.

"Cosmo is an ex-cadaver dog." She said softly. Caleb then stiffened and turned to Kelly.

"You stay with her I will figure out what Cosmo found." With a nod in agreement from Kelly, Caleb grabbed Cosmo's lease and left. Kelly watched him disappear for a split-second then she dashed to her friend.

"Shhh. Shhh. It will be alright." Kelly said, wrapping her arms around the shaking Kris. She was so far into shock she barely reciprocated the hug. Kelly remained frozen there, sheltering her friend, until she heard somebody coming. She slowly reached down to her friend's waist to touch the bear gun attached to her hip. Kelly immediately withdrew her hand when she saw Caleb returning. The only thing he said was three simple words.

"Call the Sheriff."

Sabrina was frustrated; she had waited two hours in just her pajamas in the chilly night. Just to hear Andrews give the same speech about an accident. This time she was determined, after a quick change Sabrina and Bosley were on their way to town. And they were not the only ones. Several residents of the campground, due mostly to Sabrina's seed of paranoia, had checked out. Now Sabrina was curled up in the front seat of the car, creating a list of questions to ask.

Meanwhile Kris was at her cabin lying down on the couch hugging Cosmo. She hated being so weak, and so traumatized. She closed her eyes and pretended none of it happened.

Kelly walked toward the couch carrying two mugs of a steaming drink. She placed both mugs on the coffee table in front of the couch. Slowly she studied Kris' face, from the calm relaxed look of it, to her closed eyes. Kelly then picked up Kris' feet, sat down, and replaced the feet on her lap. Kris slowly opened her eyes but focused them on the fire rather than look at Kelly.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Kelly asked, reaching for her mug.

"I'm just tired of this case." Kris said, sitting up and reaching for the remaining mug. Kelly watched her friend take a sip, still not facing her.

"We will catch him Kris, I know we will."

"But not before something else happens right? It's just the same Kelly, every case is the same. We save the day, a little too late." Kris said, abandoning her mug and leaning back into the couch.

"We always save somebody's life." Kelly reasoned, sitting back with Kris.

"But we are not good enough to save everyone's life." Kris retorted. By this time Kelly had enough and she swiftly readjusted herself to face her friend. She put her hand on Kris' far side of her face and forced her to look at her. Kris' eyes finally met hers.

"You and I both know that we can't do anything to change yesterday. But because we have today, we can change tomorrow." Kelly felt a tear run down the hand still keeping Kris facing her. Without another word Kelly wrapped her arms around the younger angel, and for the second night in a row, she cradled her to sleep.

Sabrina stepped out of the car and tried to wipe some of the sleep out of her eyes. They were going to beat this. Bosley headed straight for the cabin while Sabrina jogged to Kris' yet again. Surprised to find the door locked she pounded until a sleepy eyed Kris opened the door.

"What? Bri what time is it?"

"It's only three AM, get Kelly, we are going to finish this." Sabrina said leaving with a blank look on her face.

With new energy the angels had an organized system with the various folders; victims, suspects, and witnesses. The room was buzzing with clashing theories and debates. The sun was streaming into the room before all of the angels finally came to an agreement: Diane. For the past half-hour they had been creating a plan to trap her in her own lies. They were not positive that is was Diane until Caleb discovered the first male body. He was killed execution style. The man was walked out to the site; he would have been too heavy to drag. Then he was killed with a blow to the back of the head, a clean crime, someone who didn't want to see their victims face. But as Kris pointed out it was the opposite for women. Diane did treat other omen as inferior, and not worthy of an opinion. She knew the park and the bullets have been proven to be from a ranger gun. Sabrina rose from her spot, shedding her blanket of files.

"I am going to go set the trap, see you guys down at the site in an hour." Kelly nodded and left to make coffee in the kitchen. Kris and Bosley followed her and sat down to dig into yesterday's doughnuts. Soon the three were walking to meet Sabrina. Kelly, looking up at a nearby peak, had started to slow down.

"What's wrong?" Kris asked, anxious to catch Diane. A flicker of regret flashed across Kelly's face.

"You guys go ahead, I need to say goodbye." Kris nodded to Bosley, who continued ahead with Cosmo.

"Looks like we are both facing our inner demons." Kris said, giving Kelly an encouraging smile.


	11. Chapter 10

Sabrina leaned against the far wall studying the people around her. Seated in a chair I the middle of the room was Diane, looking sheepish. Looking down on her at one side was Seth Andrews; on the other was the sheriff. Greg Hartcourt was standing by the door with an extremely sour look on his face. Bosley was shuffling and re-organizing the case files on an empty table. Sabrina watched as Kris slipped into the room without Kelly. Kris made eye contact with her and gestured up a nearby peak. She then was distracted by Mr. Hartcourt who also noticed Kris' arrival.

I don't understand." Diane said looking from one man to the other in confusion. 'Show time' Sabrina silently said, giving herself a cue.

"Ms Costello we have here a copy of your irregular financial account. They show abnormal deposits at various times. Would you explain them please?" Sabrina had her game face on, take no prisoners.

"You're serious? You mean you people really are detectives?" Diane said, her nerves showing.

"Just answer the questions." Sabrina ordered.

"I was paid so I put it in the bank:

"Who were you paid by? Why were they paying you?"

"I don't understand." Diane yelled "what do you think I have done?' Sabrina rose to match Diane's voice.

"Those 'accidental' deaths are not so accidental/ There is a serial killer in the park and we have evidence that points us to you" Sabrina paused to take a couple of folders Bosley held onto. "Your bank accounts, the time frame, the intelligence. You defiantly have the means, but I must admit, I am curious to know you motive." Sabrina concluded as she leaned down closer the Diane.

"I don't know what you're talking about! Honest!" Sabrina sighed before standing up straight once more. She glanced over at Kris whose eyes were furrowed in deep concentration. Taking one last glance at Bosley Sabrina forced herself to calm down and take things in steps.

"Try explaining the extra deposits in your bank account."

"I … uuuhhh… well…" Diane started, turning red and not being able to fully form words.

"Little lady," the Sheriff started, leaning on the arm of Diane's chair. "You are already in a lick of trouble, telling us the truth will make things better, but not telling us anything, or lying, will put you in a place you don't want to be." That was the only persuasion Diane needed to blurt her story.

"OK so here's the deal, I take people into the park. There are people in town, teenagers mostly, who will pay a pretty penny to go back where they won't be bothered. Sometimes it's just couples looking for a good time, or sometimes it's an entire party looking for a place under the cop's radar. So for a fee I lead them into the middle of nowhere, that's how I know where the squatter camps are. Because I take the squatters there." Sabrina leaned back onto her heels as she processed the information, sure it explains half of her questions, but she had a feeling they were just getting started.

"So did you just leave them in the middle of nowhere for your accomplice to kill them or did you go back later?" Sabrina asked, watching Diane's face twist into horror.

"NO! I didn't kill anyone, or help anyone kill anyone, all I wanted was a little extra cash, and it wasn't hurting anybody. And no matter what anyone thinks I don't want to see anyone hurt, or dead." Sabrina sighed deeply, Diane finally convincing her of her innocence.

"Well if Diane isn't the killer we are back to square one, and we may have just blown our cover." Bosley said causing Sabrina to turn her attention to him.

"Not our smoothest case ever if you ask me." She replied, Sabrina then turned around to seek counsel from Kris, only to see her friend with a look of horror on her face. "Kris?"

"Kelly, he is with Kelly."

"What?" Sabrina asked, confused.

"Who is?" Bosley questioned, concern rising over the only Angel not present.

"Caleb, he knows park, and Kelly went to go explain everything to him privately." Kris explained with a meek voice.

"And you just let her go?" Bosley pestered.

"Well that was back when we were confident it was Diane." Kris defended, but concern was overwhelming her sense of logic. Kris immediately rose to her feet and strode out the door running to the peak where she knew Kelly was. Sabrina was about to join her friend when a hand on her arm stopped her. She turned to face the sheriff.

"Why don't you just keep an eye on Ms. Costella here and we will hopefully be back soon with our friend." Sabrina said, cutting the sheriff off.

"That's not was I was wanting to talk to you about. I was just wondering what happened to Mr. Hartcourt." Sabrina immediately surveyed the room to find that Mr. Hartcourt indeed was missing from the scene.


	12. Chapter 11

"Kelly!" Cried Kris, running uphill aiming for the nearby peak. Adrenaline raced throughout her body as she blindly drew her gun and attempted to brace herself for anything. "KELLY!"

"Kris, what is it?" Kris gasped and spun around to reveal Kelly making her way out of some dense woods toward her.

"Oh thank God." Kris said sweeping her friend up into a tight hug.

"Kris, what is going on?" Kelly asked again, separating her from Kris to look the woman in the eye.

"It wasn't Diane." Kris said simply, she continued explaining as Kelly's eyes furrowed in confusion. "She wasn't the murderer, it turns out she was just leading people to party spots. You had us so worried because the next likely suspect is –"

"Kelly, is everything OK?" Kris, startled, looked past Kelly to see Caleb coming out of the woods.

"HIM!" Kris yelled, simultaneously pulling Kelly behind her and her gun in front of her.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Caleb nervously questioned raising his hands high.

"KRIS! What are you doing?"

"Kelly both of us know that the killer had to be athletically fit and know the park, I'm sorry but it's the evidence."

"Killer? I'm not a killer." Caleb defended, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Kris I was just explaining to him everything that was going on." Kelly reasoned placing a hand on Kris' arm. "If he wanted to kill me he would have already done so."

"All he has to do is wait for me to lower my gun before he pulls his, Kelly both of us have seen this before. We have made him and now we are in the way."

"Well first off I hate guns; second, I know you're a detective Kris. Kelly told me everything, I would have taken advantage of her alone if I really was the killer, not let her go after you." Kris faltered a little before coming to a decision.

"Then you won't mind coming down to the lodge quietly then will you?"

"Not at all." Caleb said, waiting for further instruction.

"Let's go then, the more people the better."

"That will be quite enough of that Ms. Munroe." Kris turned to the voice as she felt Kelly's hand withdraw from her arm. Her face paled as she saw Greg Hartcourt with a firm arm around Kelly's waist and a gun to her temple. "Now we wouldn't want to make any rash movements now would we, please throw your gun to the ground away from you Ms. Munroe." Kris silently did so, her stomach wrenching itself into knots. "Now that's a good girl, are you feeling up to a hike everyone? I am wanting to make it up to the peak itself before we find ourselves with some more company."

"I'm afraid it's a little late for that." Sabrina said as she slowly made her way up the path with her gun out in front of her.

"Ms. Duncan, how nice to see you, I must say you three ladies are very good, I didn't even know I had detectives on my trail until you revealed yourself."

"Well we obviously aren't good enough."

"Come now, you don't give yourself enough credit. I bet you even know why I am doing this don't you?" Hartcourt slowly started moving backwards to place the rest of the group in front of him; Kelly squirmed awkwardly beneath his grasp.

"I have a general idea. After your wife died you had nothing to hold onto, because of your wife's death in the park you felt an attachment to the place. You began to see all of the other couples around the park, feeling happy and carefree."

"Yes, much like my wife and I."

"You felt a personal connection to each couple, so you felt that since the park stole your wife the park would steal theirs. You began beating the women to death."

"You forgot a minor detail. I became the park, I was its justice."

"And since you couldn't just leave the men you granted them a painless death."

"Well since they already suffered they didn't deserve a second punishment." Throughout this exchange Kris stood frozen, watching closely as Hartcourt was right in front of her, making his way to her right. Kris suddenly stiffened as she felt a hand rest on her lower back, somehow Caleb had managed to make his was behind her without her awareness. Kris felt confusion wash over her as Caleb slowly reached down toward the waistband of her pants. Realization struck Kris as she tried to make eye contact with Kelly.

"Put the gun down Mr. Hartcourt and we can talk about this." Sabrina tried to reason, but Kelly knew it was pointless. Movement out of the corner of her eye caused Kelly to cautiously glance over at Kris, who was desperately trying to get a message across to her friend. Kelly then gasped slightly and prepared herself for action.

Time seemed to stand still as Caleb pulled Kris' forgotten secondary gun from its place tucked into the waistline of her pants. Taking careful but quick aim he pulled the trigger and then time sped back up. Sabrina rushed to Kelly as Kris possessed Hartcourt's gun, the pain from a bullet wound in the leg caused him not to process any other information.

"You alright?" Sabrina asked Kelly, gently leading her away from Hartcourt.

"Yeah I'm fine, I can't believe it." Kelly said somberly, gesturing to Hartcourt.

"I know, I guess it was all a ploy."

"No, Sabrina he said he didn't know we where detectives, he wasn't the client." Kelly reasoned, recovering Kris' abandoned gun before turning back to where Kris and Caleb were rigging restraints.

It was later in the day when the Angels finally were able to slow down enough to take a deep breath. The sun was high in the sky and the constant flashing from the police cruisers were dying down. After a couple of hours of questioning and reports the Angels were more than ready to head home.

"Well Angels, I guess that's that." Bosley said, watching the police cruiser containing Hartcourt disappear into a cloud of dust.

"I feel so bad for the poor man." Sabrina said, arms crossed with a thoughtful look on her face. Bosley and the other two angels looked at her with mixed horror, confusion, and disbelief etched on their faces. "WHAT?" Sabrina questioned looking at each of her friends. "He obviously had an undiagnosed, untreated, psychological disorder that literally destroyed his life. It could happen to anybody and that scares me a little bit."

"Awww Bri." Kris cooed, wrapping an arm around Sabrina's shoulders. "If you ever genuinely go crazy don't worry, we would find a nice asylum to spend the rest of your days." Sabrina's reply was a death glare to the youngest angel. Kelly joined her friends in a loose embrace, a little celebration after a long case.

"Well angels lets pack up and start heading out, Kelly has to start driving as soon as possible." Bosley grinned evilly avoiding making contact with the brunette.

"Don't worry Kel" Kris said "I will drive back with you, the last flight didn't agree with me so well."

"Thanks Kris, how about you Bri, you up for a road trip?"

"As appealing as driving all night sounds I am anxious to get home and enjoy the noise of the city." Sabrina said, ducking out of the others grasp, shooting a grin to them.

"Am I interrupting?" The angels and Bosley turned around to see Seth Andrews looking at the group timidly.

"No of course not." Bosley said "What can we do for you Mr. Andrews?" He asked, everyone watching, analyzing the older man.

"I just wanted to thank you ladies for coming out here and taking care of the problem, when Charlie said you were the best he wasn't kidding." It was a comic scene seeing all of the angels and Bosley's eyes practically bug out of their sockets.

"YOURE the client?" Sabrina practically yelled. "But you avoided us the entire time!"

"I was afraid of revealing myself if I talked to any of you. If I was discovered the murderer could have decided to run."

"Why did you come to use in the first place? Why not just report to the police if the you knew all of the details?" Kelly reasoned, gesturing slightly with her hands.

"The park means everything to me, it's my home. I wanted this dealt with quickly, and with our police department it wouldn't have happened."

"Well Mr. Andrews we are very grateful that you chose our agency, we hope all goes well with the park from now on." Bosley professionally interjected, cutting off any other questions the angels may have.

"No, thank you, actually to thank your agency I am suggesting to the park board to name the new campground the 'Townsend Center'"

"Well I am sure Mr. Townsend will be very pleased. It's been a pleasure." Bosley shook the man's hand and let the angels each say their goodbyes before packing up into their separate vehicles.


	13. Epilogue

"Well Angels I must say I am very pleased with your performance on the Hartcourt Case." Charlie stated, his voice cutting through the sleepy atmosphere.

"Thank you Charlie, although as embarrassing as it is to say, it was not some of our best work." Sabrina stated, glancing up from her paper to eye the speaker.

"Nonsense Sabrina, I read the case file, there was a distinct lack of evidence, most everything was analyzing psychological behavior as well as intuition. What really matters is the fact that you three caught him without anyone else getting hurt."

"Well it wasn't just us Charlie, things might have gone very bad very fast if Caleb wasn't there." Kris spoke up from her spot on the couch, looking pointy at Kelly who was gazing into nothingness.

"Speaking of Caleb, Kelly?" Being singled out dragged Kelly from her stupor.

"Yes Charlie?"

"I believe Bosley has a gift for you." Curiosity now engaged Kelly looked expectantly at Bosley.

"This came in early this morning on the overnight express." Bosley explained, standing to reach over the desk to pass Kelly a tube. Kelly frowned in confusion as she popped the cap off the tube to reveal a painting. Kris and Sabrina each crowded around Kelly as she unrolled the painting. The three Angels then wore matching smiles as they studied the painting. In front of them was a picture perfect representation of the three of them with arms wrapped around each other in an affection manner.


End file.
